One of the things I notice the most is the models are waiting for inspiration from the photographers. Most of the models don’t do anything unless there is a casting call for a shoot. It’s the photographer that has to come up with the idea and then find a way to draw you into the project.
Why not start the ball rolling and create your own photo shoot. If you’re a member of model mayhem, you can post a casting call there or here and find photographers MUA’s & hair stylists ready to come on board if the idea is right.
Here’s how to put together a photo shoot casting call.
1. Be specific to the idea. Don’t just say you want to update your portfolio. Tell us what theme or genre you want to shoot and what wardrobe you want to bring.
2. Use photos to illustrate your idea.
3. Look at photo examples out there of your theme and gather as many examples as you can in a folder on your laptop or thumb drive. The day of the shoot, bring your laptop or ipad (or thumb drive) and show the photographer, MUA & stylist what you’re thinking.
4. Practice posing ahead of time. Don’t expect the photographer to tell you how to pose. It doesn’t matter if you’re brand new or have shot 1000 times. If you can’t pose yourself, the photographer will get bored and not want to work with you.
5. Use youtube and vimeo for video tips on how to pose. The videos are free. If you use firefox as a browser, you can find a utility to download the videos. I’ve got almost 100 videos that I’ve downloaded from various sites. I watch them before a photo shoot and it always helps to motivate me.
Finally, one last item to help you along. One of the bigest mistakes I see is models spend so much time worrying about their pose, they don’t learn to relax and change expression. If you look at your portfolio and you have the same look in every shot, it’s time to change things up.
Good luck